growing on site of old bonfires.

[Aberdeenplotter]

and this extract

" Bonfires – fires used to burn wood and other combustible materials can give rise to relatively high
concentrations of contaminants in the residual ash.
This is usually spread on the garden soil, and can
give rise to contamination hotspots. Examples of
contaminants are: Pb and Cr from paints, As, Cu
and Cr from wood preservatives, and Cd from
plastics. There are also instances of ash (containing various contaminants, including radionuclides) from bonfires on industrial sites being
collected up and used on allotments."


came from this website http://www.qros.co.uk/Contamination%...20overview.pdf

[green thing]

I've got an old bonfire site on my plot it was used by the locals to get rid of rubbish
nothing grows in the area of the fire not even weeds
I've removed about 1ft of soil/ash down to the sub soil and still nothing grows in the area

I've found bath grip handles (burnt fiberglass) nails melted metals car parts melted glass plastics carpets old lino etc
they would use petrol oil and diesel to start the fires and.
any wood that was burnt would have been covered in lead paint or creosote

I would not spread any of it around the site
get rid of it


the only ash I use is from our wood burner on the site I don't
burn any painted/tantalised timber chipboard's plywood or mdf it just natural wood
it goes through the compost bin first ..

[Two_Sheds]

old bonfire site on my plot it was used buy the locals to get rid of rubbish

Why didn't anyone ever report it? Or was that in the times before we learned about pollution?

[Aberdeenplotter]

TS, I think some have yet to learn about pollution.

[Two_Sheds]

You're not wrong there

[dawndaisy]

I have spent the afternoon at the allotment, digging around and investigating. Found some buried pieces of burnt plastic, so didnt even bother with the jam jar test. It is very localised, and I have decided to make this my storage area, which isnt very practicle, as I will have to move some plants already in the ground, but I'm ok with that.
I decided it wasnt worth growing stuff that I would worry about feeding to my family. I will sow some of the area with a butterfly annual mix, so it will not be wasted.

I'll be going to the plot tomorrow to move the compost bins, dig stuff up and rearrange about 1/3 of my allotment. Luckily i have no permanent edges in place, just loose brick edges as I have been known to be a little indecisive in the past.

I'm looking at this as a learning experience, rather than the pain in the **** that it was feeling like earlier today.

I know some people will think I'M being too cautious, but whats the point of getting an allotment to avoid feeding my family pesticides, then possibly contaminating food with unknown nasties? (i dont even peel carrots ect.. from the garden before we eat them so it has to be as 'clean' as I can grow it.)

Some might say Im not doing enough to sort out the contaminated area, but its a suburban site, and there is nothing to suggest industrial waste has been burned. Yes, I know its a risk but Im ok with that.

Thankyou for everyone's input. Im looking forward to some lovely flowers and wildlife on the patch that has caused me grief this weekend.

Dawndaisy.

[Aberdeenplotter]

I decided it wasnt worth growing stuff that I would worry about feeding to my family. I will sow some of the area with a butterfly annual mix, so it will not be wasted.

I'll be going to the plot tomorrow to move the compost bins, dig stuff up and rearrange about 1/3 of my allotment.

I'm looking at this as a learning experience, rather than the pain in the **** that it was feeling like earlier today.

I know some people will think I'M being too cautious, but whats the point of getting an allotment to avoid feeding my family pesticides, then possibly contaminating food with unknown nasties? (i dont even peel carrots ect.. from the garden before we eat them so it has to be as 'clean' as I can grow it.)

Some might say Im not doing enough to sort out the contaminated area, but its a suburban site, and there is nothing to suggest industrial waste has been burned. Yes, I know its a risk but Im ok with that.

Thankyou for everyone's input. Im looking forward to some lovely flowers and wildlife on the patch that has caused me grief this weekend.

Dawndaisy.

I personally think you are taking the most sensible approach by isolating the affected area and growing things other than food there. If you do want to "sort out the contaminated area" think about taking away a bucketful every time you visit your plot and commit that to landfill. Might take a while but well worth the effort.

[green thing]

Two_Sheds

Why didn't anyone ever report it? Or was that in the times before we learned about pollution?

the council has no interest in the site other than the rents
only 3 of the 20 plots are used as allotments the rest are used as gardens / storage or unused .
The fire site has moved to another disused(rent paid) plot and they are still burning rubbish on the site

I would remove as Aberdeenplotter said or
you could try asking the council for a skip ?

[chris]

Slightly related, but you don't know what people did with the land you had before you had the plot. I have a really bad infestation of knotweed. I've no idea if the people before sprayed it with glyphosphate, or what not. It's all in my fruit bushes - and with some recently research showing it is still active in the soil, it does make me wonder!

I was going to suggest what AP has said - pretty much buy some trugs, and take a few trugs worth of the soil to the tip if you have transport. Alternatively ask if you can move the soil elsewhere on the site (over the border, over the carpark area if there is one, etc). You may need to ask on both accounts as removing top soil from sites isn't encouraged